1. Paper + Plastick Records has posted a new 23 song free MP3 sampler for download. You can grab it here. The compilation includes previously unreleased material from Assassinate The Scientist, Blacklist Royals, Cheap Girls, Failures Union, Farewell Continental, Foundation, Landmines, Rehasher, Spanish Gamble, and This Is My Suitcase.

2. Minnesota’s BANNER PILOT have posted a tune named “Greenwood” from their upcoming Fat Wreck full-length Collapser. It’s gravelly. You can stream it on MySpace.

3. Also on MySpace is the new song “Forged in Fire” from metal act WINDS OF PLAGUE. I haven’t been a fan of this band’s prior works, but this song is pretty compelling, weaving together both symphonic death metal and straight-up beatdown-ready metallic hardcore. Cartoony, but interesting for sure.

4. Still hot: CAVE IN’s four song vinyl only EP Planets of Old. Stream it here.

KITE PARTY are a Pennsylvania four-piece indie rock band with a sound that leaves me searching for words… and not in a bad way. The group channels tempered emo (of the early Deep Elm set) on one track, and horse-collars the roughness of Paul Westerburg’s solo material in another. The group is currently supporting their latest release, an EP titled Wish Mountain, which was released on Praire Queen Records. You can check out some music from the band on their MySpace page.

- Enid, Oklahoma’s THE CITY AND SKYWAY revel in the warm, quick-tempo emo/punk of bands like SAMIAM, SEAWEED, and early SLOAN. Never very aggressive, but not necessarily without teeth, these guys find a jet stream on  Everything Looks Worse… and rides it strong for a solid 45 minutes.

Western Mass’ pop-core sensations FOUR YEAR STRONG have added a stream of their new covers album, Explains it All, to their pureVOLUME page. Some of the bands getting the reworked song treatment include SMASHING PUMPKINS, SUGAR RAY, NO DOUBT, THIRD EYE BLIND, NIRVANA, and a bunch more. The joint release between I Surrender and Decaydance follows up their breakout 2007 full-length Rise or Die Trying.

- As one might expect, this is rather hit or miss, but their take on “Spiderwebs” is definitely worth a listen; the opposite is true for “Fly.”

East Bay area pop-punk artists FIRST TO LEAVE have posted two new songs (“From Leaps to Greater Bounds” and “Greenwood”) to their MySpace page. Both are tunes are from an upcoming EP titled Through the Ice Curtain. The group released Forging a Future in 2007 on Wednesday Records.

- Seems like the ‘punk’ part of their sound is on the way out, especially since “From Leaps…” reminds me of DINOSAUR JR. Interesting, interesting.

1. I wonder which artist spends more time on their hair: JEFEREE STAR or THE CASUALTIES?

2. Micro review: I didn’t expect to like DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR’s Better Ways To Die, but truth be told, it’s pretty good.

3. If HAVE HEART, for whatever reason, stuck around after this huge global tour, I wonder how the experiences would be synthesized into a new record. Sadly, that isn’t to be.

4. When are MARIACHI EL BRONX going on tour? Spin has “Quinceniera” up and it’s been in heavy rotation ever since. Hey! August 25th is only a month away now.

5. What happened to all those EXPLOSION b-sides from Black Tape? I was lucky enough to find Black Tuesday and Jeffery Lee on the single for Here I Am now 3-5 years ago and now it seems like they’re all gone…

I REFUSE are a post-hardcore/rock band from Vermont that will soon be releasing an EP titled Speaks Fork-Tongued. Influences include HELMET and QUICKSAND, but also newer bands like OPEN HAND and Antenna era CAVE IN. Several songs from the band are available on their MySpace page, including the very excellent “Blood Telegrams.”

- SUICIDE SILENCE’s impressive new full-length No Time to Bleed is veritable casserole of metal ingredients, including elements of doom, death, sludge, grind, and ‘core. Some tracks work better than others, and in my opinion, none works as well as “Something Invisible,” which pulverizes for three solid minutes with all sorts of musical wizardry. For fun, see if you can count all of the timing changes…